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County Championship Preview | Gloucestershire vs Leicestershire

21 August 2024

Gloucestershire return to Vitality County Championship action against Leicestershire on Thursday as the 2024 season enters the closing stages.

Mark Alleyne’s side currently sit in sixth place in Division Two but are still within touching distance of second-placed Middlesex with five matches remaining. Only 24 points separate Middlesex and Gloucestershire leaving at least five teams still in the hunt for promotion to Division One.

Gloucestershire have won just one of their last five Championship matches, a 256-run win against Northants, and tied their last first-class match in dramatic fashion against Glamorgan at Cheltenham College. James Bracey’s catch – one that will go down in cricket folklore – secured the most unlikeliest of ties for Gloucestershire off the last ball of the game.

If Gloucestershire are to mount a promotion push then a win against this week’s opponents, Leicestershire, would go a long way to kickstarting a required shift in momentum. The Foxes currently sit in fourth place on 115 points having won one and drawn three of their last five Championship matches.

In their last match against second-placed Middlesex, Leicestershire won by 123 runs thanks to an impressive all-round bowling display.

TEAM NEWS

Mark Alleyne selects a 14-man squad for the visit of Leicestershire with Jack Taylor in for Beau Webster and Chris Dent in for Matt Taylor as the only two change from the last Championship matchday squad selected to face Glamorgan at the end of June.

Marchant de Lange also features following his return from the Hundred as does Ollie Price, Zaman Akhter and Ajeet Singh Dale, all of whom featured for England Lions against Sri Lanka last week.

Matt Taylor, Zafar Gohar and Tom Price remain unavailable for selection due to injury with the latter two nearing a return to first-team action.

14-man squad to face Leicestershire:

LAST TIME OUT

In the return leg at the Uptonsteel County Ground in May, Leicestershire dug in to secure a draw after Gloucestershire registered a record-breaking first innings score of 706/6. Cameron Bancroft, Ben Charlesworth and Graeme van Buuren all scored centuries as Gloucestershire piled the pressure on the home side.

Having been bowled out for 371 and asked to follow on, Leicestershire reached 377/7 before Gloucestershire ran out of time on day four.

HOW TO WATCH

Gloucestershire take on Leicestershire in the Vitality Blast County Championship at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol, on Thursday 22nd August.

BUY TICKETS

If you can’t join us on Thursday, you can watch the match live in the Glos Cricket Match Centre, here

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